The Mexican east-coast city of Chetumal is currently hosting a 3 star FIVB World Tour event that bears its name. In it, Mexican fans were able to see the country’s new faces of beach volleyball. Mexico fielded four teams for the event, and six of its eight athletes, all under 20 years of age, made their international debuts.

FIVB Blooming Beach Aalsmeer One Star

It was a busy day at the Beach Sport and Event Center as the Aalsmeer One Star went from the final round of pool play to the final four, but a big one for the host nation.

Three of the last four teams standing hail from the host country of the Netherlands, include No. 1 overall seed Alexander Brouwer/Robert Meeuwsen. Countrymen Jasper Bouter/Christian Varenhorst and Dirk Boehle/Steven van de Velde and Ben O’Dea/Sam O’Dea from New Zealand round out the group of semifinalists.

Brouwer/Meewsen, No. 2 seed Bouter/Varenhorst and the O’Deas played just one match apiece on Saturday, earning free passes to the quarterfinals by winning their respective pools on Friday.

Boehle/van de Velde, the No. 4 seed, played through three matches, including two three-set affairs to earn a shot at the podium. The pair dropped its opening pool play match on Friday, falling to Denmark’s Abell/Thomsen and had to wait until Saturday morning to avenge the defeat in their final pool play contest. Boehle/van de Velde then fought back after dropping the opening set of that match, before rebounding to defeat Poland’s Paszkowski/Kujawiak.

Once in the round of 12, the duo topped Germany’s Betzien/Erdmann but had to get through a 22-20 opening set. The quarterfinals brought another exciting match for the Dutch pair, which had to rebound after dropping a 21-14 opening set, before clinching the semifinal berth with two straight wins over Indonesia’s Candra/Ashfiya.

The semifinals, which are slated to begin at 5:30 a.m. ET Sunday, will pit the O’Deas vs. Varenhorst/Bouter, while Brouwer/Meewsen will have to go through Boehle/van de Velde to have a shot at another gold medal. The bronze medal match is set for 9:30 a.m. ET with the gold medal match to follow. All four matches will be streamed live on the FIVB YouTube channel.

The odds on favorite would be Brouwer/Meeuwsen, who secured gold just one week ago at the Doha Four Star. Varenhorst/Bouter just missed the podium at the Hague Four Star in January, which was their first FIVB event together since joining forces in August.

The O’Deas are no stranger to medals, with their last coming in the form of a bronze at the Shepparton One Star in March 2017. Boehle/van de Velde are looking for their first FIVB podium finish, with their best mark, a fifth place effort, coming at the Aalsmeer One Star last October (Oct. 29) and the Qinzhou Three Star (Oct. 15).

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About Wendy Mayer

Wendy Mayer has worked in athletics media relations for the last 20 years. The Northwest Missouri State alumna is currently senior writer for Volleymob.com after spending the last 15 years with Purdue athletics.